We see this same thing throughout the poem in her use of punctuation, in her rare enjambment, in the ways she plays with allusions, and especially in the fun she has with the homonymic potential of the English language. Toward the latter two points, I will never cease to wonder at her play on the word “Cain” to indicate the potential for refinement (and, therefore, exalted status) of the darker of the two sons of Adam and Eve, as well as the expected refinement (and, therefore, salvation) of the sugar cane (and sugar cane workers) at the center of the slave trade. Wheatley revels in the ways that something can appear to have one conclusion and also another. One thing to note is that, during this time, I was constantly switching between my birth name of Elinor and my preferred/pen name of Nellie. Especially with the poems and projects associated with university (where I was registered as Elinor), this can cause a bit of confusion! I now solely write, publish, and perform under the name Nellie. Wot’s he gooin on abaat?!’ … A sunset seen from Bilston. Photograph: Michael Strachan/Getty Images/EyeEm About the Author: Pete Bouncer, or "Bounce", says he is "just on the wrong side of fifty". A metal polisher by trade and born & bred in Walsall town centre, he started writing around 30 years ago for his own pleasure. "I never really thought anyone else would be interested" he tells us. He's dead wrong on that score!

When er got there, Elizabeth was waiting at the gate an when er saw Mary er said: "Ar ay arf glad to see yo, but fancy yo cummin to see we in yor state." What a lovely supportive message! Liz will likely never know how much this meant to me at the time.Favourite quote: ‘You call it unprofessional because of course professionalism is straight and white’. The old words are the best – or, at least, they have an integrity, a patina, like a quirky handful of coins. They make some of the poems seem attractively dated. In Homing, Berry eloquently laments the tyranny of elocution lessons in what we assume to be her mother's – or grandmother's – life and explains: "Clearing your house, the only thing/ I wanted was that box, jemmied open/ to let years of lost words spill out –/ bibble, fettle, tay, wum,/vowels ferrous as nails…" Is it still cliché to say that you can read a poem and be inspired? Or is it still cliché to say that you find something like hope in language? In a time when some of us feel that we are post-hope, Claudia Rankine’s poem “Coherence in Consequence” realigns the subtle shift that determines whether the reader is in step with the poem, or at odds. The shepherds turned to goo, an little Jesus smiled. The leader said after as it wind, an all babbies did it, but ee wor as sure as ee med out. While all this was a-gooin on, three wise kings was in a country far away lookin at stars. Suddenly, one on em put down is telescope an called: "cum eer yo lot. Oi've fun a star wot wor theer afore, and it ay arf a big un."

Favourite quote: ‘ find a lamp and empty your paradise onto a desk: your white sands, green hills and fresh fish’. The next un was like it an all, but Joseph said to the chap: "Aint there anywhere we can goo? My missus is out theer on a donkey, an er's gooin ter av a babby soon."Is friend snapped at im: "Why doh yo shut yer moanin? Us two'll look this soide, an yo pair look the other." Another said: "It ay much use lookin in stables what'm shut. An if there's a new babby, they'll a the loight on." Well, if you say so, ar suppose that's it," said Mary. "Ar cor do anythin about it, but me chap wo arf be surprised."